IF anyone should be able to craft a great, sweeping thriller around the grim realities of the drug trade then Oliver Stone would seem a prime candidate for the task.

Savages is not great but it does offer a lurid, over-the-top slice of B-movie mayhem that keeps you watching.

Former US Navy Seal Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and gormless surfer dude Ben (Aaron Johnson) are the best of friends, sharing girlfriend O (Blake Lively) and a carefree life funded by a very lucrative trade in marijuana production.

It all goes to pot, so to speak, when a Mexican drug cartel muscles in on the action and takes O hostage just to prove they mean business.